FRAUNHOFER ISE acquires Wavelabs Sinus-220 LED solar simulator

WAVELABS Solar Metrology Systems has sold a SINUS-220 LED solar simulator to the internationally renowned Fraunhofer ISE. With its acquisition of WAVELABS LED technology, the renowned research institution and PV service provider plans to conduct PV cell technology characterization and possibly callibration in the future.

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    The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy systems (ISE), Europe’s largest solar energy research institute, has placed an order for the WAVELABS SINUS-220 LED solar simulator. In purchasing the unique solar simulator with 21 different colors of LEDs integrated into its light source from WAVELABS, Fraunhofer is set to take advantage of the greatly increased temporal spectral stability, exposure time flexibility, intensity range, and maintenance interval that LED technology provides as well as other potential advantages for PV cell characterisation.

    Fraunhofer ISE was founded in 1981 and has remained at the forefront of solar PV research and testing since. Technology developed at the institute has broken world PV efficiency records and pioneered advances in dye solar cells, multicrystalline photovoltaics, and energy storage.

    “We have of course been monitoring the trend towards integrating LEDs into solar simulators. This new technology has potential advantages over conventional xenon flashers, including greater latitude with exposure times and the ability to maintain a stable spectrum over time,” explained Dr. Jochen Hohl-Ebinger, head of Fraunhofer’s CalLab team. “But there are challenges, too, such as achieving homogenous output when using many different colors of LEDs. WAVELABS has found a good solution for that, for instance, with the optics they’ve used in the light engine and the integrated spectrometer. We’re looking forward to putting the device through its paces in future characterisation projects and possibly also callibration, depending on the results we can achieve.”

    Wavelabs founder Dr. Torsten Brammer is pleased to contribute to Fraunhofer ISE’s mission of promoting sustainable and economic energy systems. “We’re very excited to see our technology being used by Fraunhofer ISE, a key institution that has contributed so much to the field of photovoltaics over the last three decades.” Fraunhofer ISE currently employs a staff of 1,277 and operates on an annual budget of 86.1 million euros.

    To learn more about WAVELABS, visit www.wavelabs.de/en

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